Walker Hook is the Latest Casualty
of the Fish Farming Industry

Walker Hook is now part of
the fish farm industry. The residents of Salt Spring Island
developed their Official Community Plan (OCP) with an explicit
mandate to protect Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs)
such as Walker Hook and prohibit large-scale development from
eroding the rural character of the island. To this end, the
OCP contains specific bylaws to protect our shorelines from
potentially harmful developments (see relevant
sections of OCP here).

Sablefin Hatcheries, Ltd. is a venture
capital corporation and its industrial operation on Salt Spring
Island directly contravenes the intent of our OCP. Although
the hatchery is land-based, the black cod (sablefish) fingerlings
raised at the hatchery are being transferred to open-net pens
in other locations on the BC coast. One such area is the Broughton
Archipelago.

Despite numerous international, peer-reviewed, and other
scientific studies
demonstrating that problems associated with farmed fish are
decimating wild stocks, and amid large scale community objection,
our government has allowed Sablefin Hatcheries, Ltd.
to move forward with their industrial operation, making Walker
Hook, Syuhe'mun, a part of its pro-aquaculture agenda.

"In
our mind, the desecration of Walker Hook is the most egregious
assault on the morality of our island community -- and there
are many extant today. By several -- no, many standards -- this
development violates the ideals of right human conduct."- Jim Scott, Salt Spring News, October 11, 2004